FPL Players to Watch - Defenders

Exploring the best value Fantasy Premier League Defenders ahead of Gameweek 1

Our Players to Watch series continue after a great response to our Goalkeepers to watch article yesterday, as we discuss and offer you FOUR defenders to consider having in your Gameweek 1 fantasy sides.

We won’t be considering the most premium options here, but rather, looking for potential bargains and under-priced players, that look set to deliver great value; helping us to stick within the £100.0m budget.

As always, we invite you to read the article and then check out the YouTube video below for all the stats and glossy graphics which help support our picks – and please be sure to subscribe to the FPLTips’ YouTube channel for even more Fantasy Premier League tips, news and insight.

Cedric Soares – Southampton [£5.0m]

At £5.0m, the Southampton right-back is in competition with the likes of West Brom’s Gareth McAuley and Bournemouth’s Charlie Daniels, but Southampton’s 14 clean sheets last season were far more than either West Brom (6) or Bournemouth (10) could manage.

Cedric produced an impressive tally of 39 attempted assists last season; level with Kyle Walker and only Nathaniel Clyne (46), Leighton Baines (47) and James Milner (57) managed more amongst active defenders (disregarding Chris Brunt – now a midfielder), but they each played more games than Cedric and have been given higher prices.

Craig Dawson – West Brom [£5.0m]

27-year-old West Brom defender, Craig Dawson, is an alternative to the popular Gareth McAuley.

Whilst McAuley managed an impressive tally of 6 goals last season, the 37-year-old defender scored just once in the previous season. Dawson, meanwhile, has shown more consistency, with 4 goals in each of his last 2 seasons.

Dawson’s underlying stats were also better than his teammate’s last season, providing 19 attempted assists and 8 shots on target, compared to McAuley’s 5 attempted assists and 7 shots on target, indicating that Dawson was perhaps unlucky to have been outscored by his defensive partner last season.

West Brom didn’t have their best defensive record last season, keeping just 6 clean sheets. However, Tony Pulis’s men have done much better historically, keeping 11 clean sheets in the 2015/16 season and a huge 16 clean sheets in the 2014/15 season and the manager has built a reputation around his ability to park a bus.

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Thank you for reading ‘Fantasy Football Premier League Tips: FPL Players to Watch – Defenders’ which was written and produced by @_FPLTips